Tommy Freeman insists England are assured of containing France’s scrum-half genius Antoine Dupont in Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations showdown on the Allianz Stadium.
Dupont underlined his inventive brilliance in Friday’s demolition of Wales to supply extra compelling proof to those that argue that he’s the game’s biggest participant of all time.
England have been busy devising a technique to stop the Toulouse ringmaster from working the present in a must-win encounter and Freeman insists he’s not invulnerable.
“You can’t underestimate how good a player he is, but he’s human. He’s like everyone else – you take his legs and he goes down,” the Northampton wing stated. “It’s all about picking things up nice and early with him and putting him under pressure.
“I am certain like some other participant, once you put strain on them they begin to leak just a few alternatives.”
France set the Six Nations alight with their 43-0 Dupont-inspired drubbing of Wales and fears are rising that they’re poised to inflict additional distress on England.
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The Instances’ Martyn Ziegler displays on France’s crushing 43-0 win over Wales within the Six Nations opener, which has heaped strain on Warren Gatland
A 27-22 defeat by Eire on Saturday registered a record-equalling seventh successive defeat in opposition to top-tier opposition for Steve Borthwick’s facet, and yet one more loss would characterize a brand new low within the nation’s 154-year rugby historical past.
On present kind the Twickenham showdown is a mismatch, however Freeman is adamant that England can pull off the upset.
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England captain Maro Itoje stated his facet endured a tough second half as they have been crushed by Eire within the Six Nations however believes there are positives to construct on
“Of course we can. At the end of the day everyone is human, it’s rugby,” Freeman stated. “They’ll have a gameplan, we’ll have a gameplan and we’ll back ours to the moon and back. They’ll do the same to theirs. We’ll give ours as best a shot as we can.
“Clearly we wished to return away with a end result in opposition to Eire. We felt like our first half was unbelievable. We got here out firing and left all of it on the market. There was in all probability a component within the second half the place we lapsed in focus and some issues did not go our means.
“We’re disappointed with that, but the promise we’ve got in this squad means it’s going to tick and it’s going to change. Hopefully we’ll get on the right side of the results.”
Maro Itoje displays on a slender defeat for England of their Six Nations opener in opposition to Eire
England’s Murley emerges as harm doubt
Cadan Murley has emerged as a doubt in opposition to France due to a foot drawback sustained in Dublin that pressured him to overlook Monday’s coaching session.
The 25-year-old Harlequins wing made his Check debut on the Aviva Stadium and whereas he ran within the opening strive, he was liable for two obtrusive errors that invited strain on to England, leaving him preventing for his place within the crew.
Cadan Murley opened the scoring for England in Dublin on Saturday
Ollie Sleightholme is the most definitely different to fill the quantity 11 jersey if Murley is dominated out, as England look to offer their Six Nations lift-off by toppling France. Borthwick is anticipated to call his crew on Thursday.
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